Three sentenced in armed robbery of Charlotte bank

A U.S. district judge in Charlotte sentenced three defendants Thursday after each pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of a Charlotte bank.

Kenneth Lamont Moore, Jr., 22, of Laurinburg, Antonio DeMarcus Clendening, 31, and Kamara Shanta McBrayer, 27, both of Charlotte, were sentenced to varying prison terms by Judge Max Cogburn, Jr., according to Anne Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

On May 20, 2013, the three defendants robbed an Albermarle Road branch of Bank of America, according to court documents and Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

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They pointed guns at the bank tellers and ordered them to put the money in a pillow case provided by Clendening, then left with more than $7,700 in cash, according to court documents.

Moore and Clendening got into a vehicle driven by McBrayer, who did not stop for responding police officers, but led them on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood, court documents said.

All three were taken into custody after McBrayer crashed the vehicle.

In July 2013, all three defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and armed bank robbery, according to prosecutors.

Clendening also pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and was sentenced to serve 272 months in prison, officials said. Moore also pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and was sentenced to serve 121 months in prison.

McBrayer was sentenced to 42 months in prison, prosecutors said. All three were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms.

The defendants have been in federal custody since their arrest and will be transferred into the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ custody once a federal facility has been designated.